Red, White and Blue Cupcakes

With only one more day until the big 4th of July celebrations, have you decided what you are bringing to that BBQ you are invited to? Cupcakes are a wonderful dessert to bring to any cookout or get together. They are portable, easy to carry and always bring a smile to the faces of adults and kids alike. What better way to celebrate the birth of America than with Patriotic Cupcakes? Swirled with the colors of our flag, these cupcakes are sure to be a hit!

I adapted these cupcakes from my favorite recipe for a classic white layer cake. I can always count on them to bake up super moist and tender. To achieve the color layers, I layered the batter in the muffin tins by squeezing the different colored batters by using ziploc bags with the ends snipped off. This made the process so much quicker and less messy! The result is a beautifully swirled patriotic cupcake that’s perfect for the 4th of July! 😀

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with paper liners.
In a 2-cup glass measure, combine milk, egg whites, and extracts and mix with fork until blended.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, on low speed combine cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add butter and continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining.
Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed for 1½ minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Return mixer to medium speed and beat 20 seconds longer.
Pour a scant cup of the cake mix into three separate mixing bowls. Color one bowl red, another blue and leave the last bowl white. Place the batters into three individual Ziploc bags.

Squeeze cake batter into each cupcake well, starting with red, then white,

and finally blue.

Bake 15 to 17 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer muffin pan to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cool completely prior to frosting.

To make buttercream frosting, in standing mixer fitted with whisk attachment, beat butter at medium-high speed until smooth, about 20 seconds. Add confectioners’ sugar and salt; beat at medium-low speed until most of the sugar is moistened, about 45 seconds. Scrape down bowl and beat at medium speed until mixture is fully combined, about 15 seconds; scrape bowl, add vanilla and heavy cream, and beat at medium speed until incorporated, about 10 seconds, then increase speed to medium-high and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes, scraping down bowl once or twice.
To make the color swirls. Divide frosting into three separate bowls. Color one bowl of frosting blue, another red and leave the last bowl white. Place each color in separate disposable decorators bags. Place the three filled disposable decorators bags into a large decorators decorating bag fitted with the 1M decorating tip and approximately 1/4″ above cupcake top at a 90° angle to cupcake surface, pipe a spiral of icing, beginning at the outer edge and working inward.

Recipe Note: If you have forgotten to bring the milk and egg white mixture to room temperature, set the bottom of the glass measure containing it in a sink of hot water and stir until the mixture feels cool rather than cold, around 65 degrees.